Monday, 4 March 2019

SEVERAL Zimbabwe-bound truckers are parked on the South
African side of the Beitbridge Border Post as importers ponder their next move
following a sharp increase in excise duty by government.

The new duties are likely to see an upsurge in fraudulent
documentations as importers try to cheat their way out.

A shipping agent yesterday said a lot of importers had not
anticipated the steep adjustment of duty after government finally conceded the
surrogate bond currency was not at par with the United States dollar.

“Many drivers have been on the South African side since
Friday (last week) when duties were adjusted. Importers are running around to
raise duties required now,” the shipping agent said.

“We have not been receiving many documents and some are
contemplating returning the goods to manufacturers and study the market.”

Customs and excise duties shot up threefold to the bond
note value last Friday following government’s gazetting of Statutory Instrument
32 of 2019, ushering in the new currency, the real time gross settlement dollar
(ZWR).

The central bank devalued the local ZWR currency and pegged
it at 2,5 against the US$ from 1:1 and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority moved to
effect the changes in its systems, directly bringing up duties with a similar
adjustment margin.

Most importers were caught by surprise and their bonds did
not hold as much as the new adjustments, likely to see an increase in the
prices of goods by 300%.

Another shipping agent said the new duty regime was likely
to spark a new wave of cooked up documents and more cases of smuggling.

“If things become difficult, people try anything. We are
likely to see an upsurge in smuggling and falsification of documents,” said another
agent.

A Harare-based importer yesterday said the new duties would
simply be passed to consumers who are already faced with an acute shortage of
other basics like bread.

“Prices will go up by the same percentage the duty has been
adjusted,” Godbless Machipisa of Harare said.

His company imports domestic consumables and beverages. He said the new duty regime was shocking. “Where we paid a duty of $11 000 bond, we have been levied $29 000 and this cost
will be pushed to the consumers,” he said.

Zimbabwe mostly relies on imports, whose prices are
expected to rise this week. A wave of violence rocked the country in January following
a public outcry when the government hiked fuel prices by 150%.

Seventeen people were shot dead by the military and police,
while more than 80 were left nursing gunshot injuries, according to civic
society organisations.

Several others were forced to flee their homes and the
country as the State security agents launched a brutal and bloody crackdown on
suspected protesters and the protest organisers.

Some Zimbabweans have called on the government to swallow
its pride and just use the US$, which would effectively kill the three-tier
pricing system blamed for price disparities in the country. Newsday